AWP
The Accuracy International AWSM (or mislabelled as "AWP"; the last letters denote "Magnum" and "Police", respectively) is a Sniper Rifle. Overview It costs $4750 and uses 10-round magazines of .338 Lapua magnum ammo, it can be bought by both the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists. Secondary fire (Mouse 2 by default) enables its 2-10x scope. This weapon has been in Counter-Strike since Beta 1.0. Advantages Disadvantages Tactics The AWSM is highly accurate while standing still and kills with one shot anywhere except the hands/feet or at extremely long ranges (150+ meters, not found in official maps). The AWP is highly inaccurate when not zoomed in and dramatically slows the player's running speed (while in hand). In competitive play the AWP is a mainstay of just about every team. *A common trick is to rapidly switch between pistol and AWSM (typically done by pressing "Q") to reduce the delay time in between shots and to momentarily recover mobility for the player when the weapon is switched to pistol. *"Quick Scope" refers to the process of aiming at the target initially unscoped, and then when the target is centered on the screen while still unscoped, the scope is activated and the weapon is fired instantaneously after the scope activation is clicked. This manoeuver has been made more difficult in recent versions, however, due to the extra "delay" added to the model animations in between shots and activating the scope. Therefore activating the scope and instantaneously shooting is almost as inaccurate as no-scoping. Naming and realism problem Some purists prefer to use the acronym "AWM" instead of the in-game name "AWP" because in-game weapon is more similar to the the actual AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum) rather than the actual AWP (Arctic Warfare Police) which is black rather than green. However, the in-game weapon is not exactly the same as a real life AWM. The actual AWM is either chambered with a 10-round .308 Winchester magnum, or a 5-round .338 Lapua Magnum. The .338 Lapua Magnum version is usually called AWSM (Super Magnum) rather than AWM. A version of this gun with 10 rounds of .338 does not exist in real life. In 1.6 it had a front sight not found on the actual AWSM. This was later changed in CS:Source with a muzzle break more commonly found on AWM/AWSM. Controversy In the culture of Counter-Strike, "AWP whore" and "noob cannon" are online vernacular for one who accumulates kills with the AWP sniper rifle. This is why many public servers ban the AWP from being bought, or restrict it to only having 1 per team. The AWP delivers one-shot kills to all parts of the body except the limbs, which some players criticize as making it overpowered and easy to use. The drawback is that it has a slow rate of fire, causes the person carrying it to move more slowly, and that the player must use its zoom function to have any accuracy. Although its balance is debated, most Counter-Strike players agree that the AWP requires a decent degree of skill to use competitively, though nowhere near as much as the scout. Reduced power The AWP is no longer as powerful as it once was. The AWP was the most powerful in version 1.1 of the game when one shot to any part of the body was an instant kill. Later updates reduced its effectiveness: 1.3 made the leg shot non-lethal: 1.5 made it so that the AWP and pistol could not be pulled out as fast, as well as making the AWP extremely inaccurate without the scope, crippling the AWP's effectiveness in close-quarters; 1.6 dramatically increased the time for the scope of the AWM, which was criticized as making it nearly worthless. Despite this it remained popular. The latest update to Counter-Strike once again reduced the "scope time". Countertactics Since this weapon is so popular, there has been a spur on how to counter it. A few methods are as follows. *Use grenades. Flashbangs can be used to wash his scope out. Since he is usually utilizing the scope, he won't be able to see the grenade coming from their narrow angle. Best lob smoke grenades as close to the sniper as possible. If the smoke is close to you, he can just shoot it and get a fair chance of hitting someone. If it is close to him, and therefore occupies a comparatively greater space in his field of view, he won't be able to aim. You can then rush him with an autoshotgun or an automatic weapon. Normal HE grenades work too, because they will damage him and knock his aim around a bit too. Add the shock factor. *Harass him with scoped rifles while he is recharging or reloading. *Wait for him to reload and then rush, and paint his brains on a nearby wall. Or just wait for him to shoot then peek out. *Call in backup to flank him. Gallery Image:awp_16.png|The AWP in Counter-Strike. Image:awp_cz.png|The AWP in Counter Strike: Condition Zero. Image:awp_czds.png|The AWP in Counter Strike: Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes. Image:awp_s.png|The AWP in Counter-Strike: Source. File:W_awp.jpg|1.6 worldmodel. File:W_awp_cz.jpg|Condition Zero worldmodel. Trivia *This weapon is available in the German version of Left 4 Dead 2. External links *Accuracy International AWM at Wikipedia Category:Sniper rifles Category:Weapons